The technology ventures founded or co-founded by those who have participated in the Ignite programme have created £120m in revenue, over 2000 jobs and raised £35m in investments. In addition, a figure of £50m was achieved through company exits.
Yupar Myint (pictured), Ignite Programme Director, said, “These figures are exciting and confirm the value of the programme. Despite tough conditions, these entrepreneurs have managed to create highly successful ventures which have had a tangible impact on the local economy.”
“It’s certainly gratifying for us as educators to see the way the skills and confidence gained by participants through Ignite has enabled them to make great strides with their business ideas and, in many cases, achieve great commercial success.”
Ignite attracts a diverse range of projects which can be broadly categorised as being from the high-tech or life sciences sectors.
Chris Muktar attended Ignite in 2009 and is the co-founder of WikiJob.co.uk, the largest graduate careers site in the UK. WikiJob.co.uk uses social media to break down barriers between candidates and employers.
He said, “I had no previous business training and needed a more rigorous grounding to develop my first enterprise. Ignite was instrumental in developing my venture successfully. The experience taught me to develop realistic business goals that can be implemented and to plan ahead with cashflow and capital forecasts. I came away with a much better grasp of business planning, particularly in terms of building a quantified picture of future aims and outcomes.”
Rob Walden is Business Development director of POD Point, an innovative company based in the UK that specialises in all aspects of electric vehicle charging.
Rob commented: “I was lucky enough to attend Ignite in 2005 as a delegate sponsored by Marshall Aerospace my then employer. What I learned was of great value to me in establishing new business streams at Marshall and in doing a wide range of international business development within the company. In late 2010, I joined POD Point as their 5th team member. POD Point was founded by two Ignite alumni and I was the third to join. Many of the skills that I acquired at Ignite were really useful in building POD Point and have remained useful as we’ve grown and entered our 4th year of business.”
The next Ignite programme is 7 July to 12 July 2013. If you’re interested in attending, please sign up soon as there are now limited places available! In order to secure your place(s) and to take advantage of a 5% discount on the fee, please book by the end of April. Discount rates are only available for those who book early and make full payment up front. For further information and to apply, visit the web site »
Contact: Katharine Price, Marketing & Communications Manager, CfEL; Email: [email protected] ; Tel: 01223 766917
About the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL) www.cfel.jbs.cam.ac.uk
The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL), based at Cambridge Judge Business School, aims to spread the spirit of enterprise to both the University of Cambridge community and to wider national and international audiences through the creation and delivery of a range of educational activities that inspire and build skills in the practise of Entrepreneurship. One of CfEL's key teaching values is that the best people to teach entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs. This philosophy has led to the Centre collaborating with a network of over 300 experienced entrepreneurs, innovators and other practitioners to provide relevant, credible and practical training.
The Centre has developed an enviable track record in the field of entrepreneurship education with a number of flagship programmes designed to provide skills for students, graduates, researchers and aspiring entrepreneurs from different backgrounds and at different stages of the entrepreneurial journey. These programmes are Enterprise Tuesday, ETECH Projects, Ignite, Enterprisers and the Postgraduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship.
Tel: 01223 766900; Email: [email protected]
About Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/
Cambridge Judge Business School is internationally recognised as one of the leading providers of innovative, intellectually challenging and practical business management education across a portfolio of undergraduate, graduate and executive programmes. As a fully integrated department of a world renowned university, Cambridge Judge Business School hosts one of the largest concentrations of interdisciplinary business and management research activity in Europe. Built on an ethos of collaboration, the School is a unique place where policy makers, regulators, industry leaders, not for profit organisations, entrepreneurs and academics can meet, interact and share ideas. Cambridge Judge Business School delivers business education for the 21st Century networked economy, fostering collaborative leadership skills, developing communities of partners to meet the challenges of the new global business landscape.